Possibly not enough water, the pot looks too small for a tree of that size and it’s not holding enough moisture to sustain it
Bicolore on
Pots too small, its dying.
yimrsg on
Would guess several things.
1) Trees have a far shorter life expectancy in a pot; think 2-5 years unless they’re something like a japanese maple then they’re usually fine for longer.
2) If that’s couch grass, it’s likely producing chemicals that adversely effect other plants to give it a competitive edge; see allelopathy.
3) Drainage or planted too deep; that blackened bark at base of the trunk looks no good.
GnaphaliumUliginosum on
Monkey puzzles, especially young ones put a lot of effort into developing a ‘lignotuber’ – a bulky taproot that acts to store water and nutrients. Due to this, they cannot be grown in pots, however large, for more than a few years.
If you can bring it indoors in winter, Araucaria heterophylla is more suited to growing in pots, but also won’t be happy in one forever.
Itsnotme74 on
If it’s yours … It needs planting out and keep your fingers crossed. If it’s for sale somewhere dont buy it.
MimBondie on
Looks like it could do with a larger pot. I have one in a pot and it has been fine for 10+ years as I occasionally repot it, and put some ferns around the base to improve the soil microbiome.
Riverview1957 on
Plant in ground and feed
Northwindlowlander on
That’s a small pot for any tree of that size but especially a monkey puzzle, they grow a lignotuber- a sort of super taproot- from an early age which also serves as a resource store/regrowth source, and it takes up a lot more space in the pot, they’re icebergy.
They’re also super picky about root disturbance when they’re young. It already looks pretty unhappy but I’m not sure there’s anything to be done other than just replant it and hope?
I’m no expert on them, jI guess there’s a chance that the lignotuber is developed enough for it to regrow from the base if you cut it right back and simulate a big traumatic event and reset, but you’d need to find someone that actually knows about that stuff.
(bear in mind if you plant it out that they grow big and have pretty serious root systems and can be disruptive. Lots of monkey puzzles in too-small spaces causing trouble)
Dazzling-Command7721 on
I had one a few years back. We planned to move and take it with us so we left it in a small pot. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Hopefully you can save yours. ✌🏻
9 Comments
Possibly not enough water, the pot looks too small for a tree of that size and it’s not holding enough moisture to sustain it
Pots too small, its dying.
Would guess several things.
1) Trees have a far shorter life expectancy in a pot; think 2-5 years unless they’re something like a japanese maple then they’re usually fine for longer.
2) If that’s couch grass, it’s likely producing chemicals that adversely effect other plants to give it a competitive edge; see allelopathy.
3) Drainage or planted too deep; that blackened bark at base of the trunk looks no good.
Monkey puzzles, especially young ones put a lot of effort into developing a ‘lignotuber’ – a bulky taproot that acts to store water and nutrients. Due to this, they cannot be grown in pots, however large, for more than a few years.
If you can bring it indoors in winter, Araucaria heterophylla is more suited to growing in pots, but also won’t be happy in one forever.
If it’s yours … It needs planting out and keep your fingers crossed. If it’s for sale somewhere dont buy it.
Looks like it could do with a larger pot. I have one in a pot and it has been fine for 10+ years as I occasionally repot it, and put some ferns around the base to improve the soil microbiome.
Plant in ground and feed
That’s a small pot for any tree of that size but especially a monkey puzzle, they grow a lignotuber- a sort of super taproot- from an early age which also serves as a resource store/regrowth source, and it takes up a lot more space in the pot, they’re icebergy.
They’re also super picky about root disturbance when they’re young. It already looks pretty unhappy but I’m not sure there’s anything to be done other than just replant it and hope?
I’m no expert on them, jI guess there’s a chance that the lignotuber is developed enough for it to regrow from the base if you cut it right back and simulate a big traumatic event and reset, but you’d need to find someone that actually knows about that stuff.
(bear in mind if you plant it out that they grow big and have pretty serious root systems and can be disruptive. Lots of monkey puzzles in too-small spaces causing trouble)
I had one a few years back. We planned to move and take it with us so we left it in a small pot. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Hopefully you can save yours. ✌🏻